Approximately 10% of the
population of the United States has a speech,
language, hearing, or swallowing problem and
the population is growing. With an increasing
population comes an increasing need for speech-language
pathology services, both pediatric and adult.
Schools across the country
are expanding to meet the projected needs
of an expanding school-aged population. As
the school population grows, the number of
children needing speech-language pathology
services also grows.
People are living longer.
As people age, they are more susceptible to
diseases that can affect their ability to
speak and/or understand. As more adults acquire
problems that affect communication, the need
for speech-language pathology services increases.
Medical advances are helping
children and adults survive previously devastating
illness. Speech-language pathologists work
to help people communicate and thus live fulfilling
lives.
